Resume - BE AS HARSH AS YOU CAN!

Hello everybody,

I am a mature international student from a non-target business school. My school is well known for its accounting program and students with high ethical standards & maturity. I have one more year to go before I graduate with my Master of Accountancy degree. Despite my background in accounting, I want to break into i-banking. I know it’s late, but after taking my finance classes I realized that this is the stuff I could do for the rest of my life. I seriously feel adrenalin running through my body when I study for these finance classes and the CFA® curriculum. As you may guess, my CFA®endeavor is part of this struggle to gain credibility on the finance side. Also, somehow I want to leverage my extensive background in accounting for my i-banking aspirations.

During last i-banking interview season, I applied to a few big banks through my school’s recruiting system. Unfortunately, I never even got a call for interview. I know it’s because my resume sucks. I want to fix this. Please critique my resume to the harshest extent.

http://www.razume.com/documents/10758

All comments will be warmly appreciated. IT”S OPEN TO GET RIPPED APART!

Thanks!

9 Comments
 

Can't offer much advice unfortunately, but if I were you, I'd move the GPA bullet right to the top; its usually the first thing that people look for.

 
Best Response

You need to remove that smiley face and the exclamation point next to "Like to cook food for friends!"

You need to change the sentence "Awaiting CFA results with great confidence!!". There's no purpose to that statement and you might as well remove the whole CFA bit until you actually get your results. You wouldn't want somebody to go through your resume, see that statement and ask you what you got in case you don't pass.

No need for TOEFL score. No need to state you are fluent in English either.

Don't state that you were involved in clerical activities during your internship with Deloitte. You listed "bond" as one of your courses. I'm sure there's a much more formal course title for that. Also, where's your GMAT or GRE score? You're doing a masters right. If you have a high score, you can insert that in your resume.

Some of your dates have July, while some have Jun. You need to be consistent.

I'm not so sure about the SAT scores section. You might want to reconsider that.

Also, don't state an introduction to your resume with the statement "I am a mature international student"

 

Thanks for your comments.

1) I will fix the smiley, exclamation, SAT/TOEFL, maturity, and the date inconsistency stuff.

2) With CFA, I will find it out soon (July 28th). I am very confident that I will pass it coz I thought it was really easy for me.

3) By mentioning clerical, I was trying to suggest that I am hard working and am open to doing anything for the sake of learning. I will figure out a better way to convey this message.

4) My school does not require GMAT/GRE for students who went through one of the most challenging and rigorous accounting junior core at my school. So I haven’t taken any of these tests yet, but I am planning to take GMAT soon.

BTW, given my profile, what do you think my prospects are for breaking into i-banking? If I could not get an internship experience in banking before my graduation, any chances the banks will give me a shot for associate positions upon my graduation next year?

Thanks.

 

You won't get associate positions because you have no work experience and you don't have an MBA. There are people who get associate positions after a Masters in Finance but that is usually accompanied by at least two years of experience. You should aim to break in as an analyst. I think the key is to network and see where things go. Also, I would put a lot more emphasis on your recent internship with Deloitte than with any other work experience. There is no need to put the farming work experience or the Tele-funder internship on your resume. It just eats up space. People are always looking for relevant experience. You need to expand on what you did and try and relate it to investment banking. You need to quantify your audit experience. Words and phrases like shadowing, clerical, "worked hard" make your resume less attractive. Have you considered a consultant for your resume? There are a lot of people who will whip this into shape and tailor it for investment banking positions.

 

I tried to be as diligent as I can with regard to the reference to my CFA candidacy. I am a CFA candidate for I am enrolled for the June 2009 exam and am awaiting results. But, I agree, the confidence part implicitly suggests that I will pass it for sure. I am gonna fix it immediately. Thanks for your counsel.

 

Consequatur non quia aliquid beatae aut et alias. Eos aperiam eum esse necessitatibus quos consectetur. Veniam velit doloribus quis molestiae. Debitis dolore soluta dignissimos illum. Autem impedit dolorem ipsum quidem at nesciunt. Et quasi ea voluptas deleniti corporis assumenda. Pariatur enim sunt natus voluptatibus.

Deleniti deleniti ut et maxime incidunt. Eum laboriosam sequi eveniet quod quas nesciunt praesentium. Pariatur reiciendis aut quam itaque ipsum et qui. Quis quia repellendus autem incidunt. Architecto modi et maxime natus. Quasi itaque quas sit voluptatem repellendus distinctio.

Necessitatibus sapiente harum dolores dolore vel et aliquam. Tenetur et voluptates quae nisi quo. Iure omnis laborum consequatur at. Dolores consequuntur sed molestias ducimus. Soluta illo dolore facilis neque. Deleniti numquam nostrum autem impedit maiores. Ut molestias quas quo iure a.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 11 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (78) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”